I do not own TVD, TO, or Charmed.
There are 5 chapters left and most of them take place down in New Orleans.
San Francisco, 2003
"You might want to stand back a bit," Piper suggested. "This is a highly volatile potion you're trying to make."
"It has to be," Lexa pinched the billings root.
"You want to tell me why you're altering a power stripping potion?" Piper leaned against the counter and separated the final ingredients.
"I just like to be prepared," Lexa added the root. "You never know when you'll need to take the power away from something." She carefully poured the mixture into the plastic bottle and secured the lid. "Don't worry though; I've no intention of ever using it on a witch."
"I should hope not," Piper frowned, "it would strip their powers and the lining of their stomach."
"I would think it would destroy the whole body," Lexa wrapped the bottle in a towel. "How long do I have to shake it?"
Piper walked around the counter and set on a barstool so she could read the book. The entry was faded around the edges and needed to be touched up.
"It says you need to shake it for two hundred heartbeats," she tilted her head and bit her lip. "Of course, that was before you made the changes."
Lexa eyed the added assembly of ingredients. She nibbled on her cheek and tried to run the calculations in her head, but one number kept popping up.
"Eight hundred and eighty nine," she nodded decisively.
"That's rather specific," Piper reached for the blood pressure cuff, "it has to be your heartbeat."
Lexa waved off the cuff. "I've got it," she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "I know how many beats a minute my heart goes."
She ignored Piper's questions about how she could possibly know that and focused on the gentle beating of her heart. She kept a careful count and didn't open her eyes again until she made the final shake. When she finally looked the liquid in the bottle had turned a soft pink.
"What's next?" Lexa uncapped the bottle and read the Book of Shadows upside down. She reached for the pinch of dandelion. She poured the liquid back into the pot and reheated it over a low setting before stirring in the flower.
"The last ingredient is a dash of chickweed," Piper watched her measure out the ingredient. "A little more hon," she nodded when Lexa added more, "that enough."
"Thanks," Lexa removed the potion from the heat. "Now, if I understand this correctly the potion will turn blood red when it cools."
"Oh goodie," Paige slipped through the door, "we're already brewing."
"Yes, we are," Piper moved to lift her infant son when he started to cry, "Is there a problem?"
"Yeah," Phoebe paused to coo to the baby, "There is a demon terrorizing the town."
"Get your pitchforks and torches," Lexa muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Paige started pulling down the ingredients for the vanquishing potion.
"Nothing," Lexa murmured, "don't worry about it." She moved to bottle the power stripping potion and watched the thick liquid slowly dribble into the small bottle. She added it to the slim box of potions she kept stored in her purse.
"So," Lexa closed her bag, "what's the deal with the demon?"
One of these days she would start questioning her life choices. One of these days she would ask why she was putting herself in the way of danger. Eventually somebody was going to find a way to make her death permanent; that should have been enough to make her more careful.
It should have been enough to make her run for the hills when the warlock blinked into the house. Little Wyatt didn't really need protection; he had his force field, but she still jumped in front of him.
Her body had started acting independently from her head.
It was a good thing she did it too because this particular warlock was creative. It had come with a means to take down Wyatt's shield.
Moments after she had stepped beside the bassinet she saw the field fall. She glanced at the squirming infant quickly before turning to the assailant.
She waved her hand to send the energy ball flying in the opposite direction.
"Do you ever get the feeling Lexa's hiding something?" Piper ran her finger over the vanquishing potion.
"All the time," Paige nodded. "There is something off about her."
"Are you saying you don't trust her?" Phoebe peered around the corner.
"Of course not," Piper shook her head. "I trust her. If I didn't I wouldn't have left her with Wyatt, and Wyatt trusts her that's enough for me. I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't curious though."
The sister's lapsed into silence when the sharp screams echoed around the corner. They moved quickly and pulled out the spell to use with the potion.
Lexa bit down on her bottom lip against the burning in her calve. She fell to the ground and muttered a spell to throw up a temporary shield to give her time to heal. She held the edge of the bassinet and swallowed her rising bile when she saw her bone.
It was a morbid, macabre, sight but she couldn't look away as the muscle and blood vessels knit themselves back together painfully until she was left with a mass of blood on her perfectly healed leg.
"Oh Wyatt," Lexa clambered back to her feet, "what I wouldn't give for your mommy's power right now." She rolled her neck as her spell dropped and ducked out of the way of the next energy ball. Her hands moved faster than they ever had before when she pushed the bassinet behind the sofa.
The softest sound reached her ears over Wyatt's cries. It was enough to distract her from the ball of light hurtling towards her midsection.
She cried out sharply when it hit and sent her flying through the air. Her back collided with the wall as her elbow broke the window.
Lexa slumped against the ground and grimaced. Her fingers lifted from her stomach and came away covered in blood. The red stained her skin and the jade pendant around her wrist. She managed to crawl backwards until she was encased in Wyatt's glowing force field; she didn't know when or how the baby had regenerated the shield, but she was immensely grateful for it.
Piper darted around the edge of the couch and lifted her screaming son from the bassinet. Her eyes grew round when she saw the gaping wound in Lexa's abdomen.
"Leo!" She bounced Wyatt gently in an attempt to sooth him. "Leo!"
"Oh my…" Phoebe fell to her knees beside Lexa and lifted her ruined blouse. Bile rose in her throat. "This is why I didn't become a doctor." She focused on the back of the couch. "I can't stand the sight of blood."
"Then you might be in the wrong profession," Lexa quipped. "Demon hunting leads to a lot of blood."
"Leo," Piper cried. "Get down here now! Lexa's hur…"
Piper trailed off slowly. A line appeared between her brows when she knelt beside the blonde.
"Where is she?" Leo orbed into the living room.
"Over here," Piper's voice was lighter than air.
Leo circled around the couch quickly where he saw the sister's bent over Lexa. He could see the trepidation in her green eyes as she slowly propped herself up and avoided the stares of her friends.
"I thought you said she was hurt," Leo ran his eyes over the slim frame. He could see a mess of blood and small pieces of glass clinging to her hair, but there were no wounds to be seen.
"She was," Paige tilted her head and eyed the large hole in the ruined blouse. Her eyes slowly slid down to the singed material of Lexa's jeans. "She should have died."
Lexa emerged from the bathroom in borrowed clothes. Her hair was still wet from the shower when she cautiously stepped into the living room where Paige and Phoebe were cleaning the glass from the window and Leo was gathering the broken pieces of the grandfather clock.
"Why do they always go for the clock?" Piper shook her head. "I've lost track of how many times I've had that thing fixed."
"That was actually me," Lexa whispered. "The warlock managed to take down Wyatt's shield. I redirected one of the energy balls… I got hit with a few more." Her stomach grumbled loudly. She was always hungry after her body healed from a large wound; she hated that she knew that fact.
"Are you hurt?" Piper lowered Wyatt into the bassinet.
Lexa shook her head and crossed her arms. She struggled to remember the words to the teleportation spell when she felt their eyes on her.
How did it go? What was the phrase? She hadn't used it since waking in that pit. She had put it out of her mind the same way she had the grave; it was buried in the recesses of things she longed to forget.
"Good," Phoebe balanced the broom against the wall. "Let's chat," she took Lexa's arm and steered her to the undamaged furniture in the sun room.
"About what?" Lexa avoided their eyes when everyone took a seat.
"You know what," Paige braced her elbows on her knees. "Rapid healing is not a power held by witches… that's why we have white lighters."
"Your skin knit itself back together Lexa," Piper tilted her head when Wyatt stirred.
"That something unique to other supernatural races," Phoebe tilted her head to watch her friend's face. "What are you?"
"I'm a witch," Lexa crossed her arms and swallowed.
Phoebe arched an eyebrow. "Oh don't give me that," she scoffed. "You've been hiding something since we met you. I think it's high time you told us."
"I've never told anyone," Lexa shook her head.
"Why not?" Phoebe leaned back. "It's not like we're going to burn you at the stake."
Lexa closed her eyes as the memory of smoke filled her mind and lungs.
"We know you're a witch, Lexa," Piper reached over and adjusted the blue blanket. "You're something else though. Are you half demon?"
"No," Lexa shook her head. "My mother was a witch. My father was human."
Phoebe gave Piper and Paige a sideways look. They clearly weren't asking the right questions.
"How did you heal on your own? Why did you heal?" Paige pushed her hair behind her ear.
"It's a soul connection," Lexa's eyes widened as the truth fell from her lips. It came out in waves once she started. "Soulmate's share their abilities and powers with each other."
Paige tilted her head. "What is your soulmate?"
"Vampire," Lexa wanted to slap her hand over her mouth. She knew at that point they had used some sort of truth spell, but she couldn't bring herself to care. This was the first time she had ever vocalized what had happened to her. "His siblings tore him away from me a long time ago. I thought he was dead; I thought they killed him, but he's still alive somewhere."
"How do you know that?" Piper breathed.
"Sometimes I know things," Lexa lifted her gaze from his hands, "and I know he's alive. I know I'm going to find him again." She ran her finger tips over her stomach. "I'm alive because he's still alive because I healed; the connection is lost when one soulmate dies. It took me a long time to learn that; and one overheard conversation."
"How long have you been alive?" Phoebe tilted her head.
Lexa bit down on her cheek and swallowed the answer on the tip of her tongue. She had to concentrate for a moment before discovering she couldn't lift the spell; instead she made one of her own that let her override theirs.
"A lady never tells," she managed a tight smile.
"Awe come on," Phoebe pleaded, "how old: 30, 40, 50, 60…. Stop me when I get close."
"I already told you Phoebe," Lexa shook with a soft laugh, "a lady never tells."
"70… 80…" Piper smirked.
"90?" Paige arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Why didn't you want to tell us? We've known you years, Lexa."
"The longer people know me the more likely they are to storm my home with torches and pitchforks." Lexa shoulders relaxed under the sudden knowledge that they didn't seem to care. Still she needed to be sure. "You do realize this means I'm in love with a vampire, right? Someone you would consider evil."
"Vampires are different than the rest," Piper frowned. "Usually they are alright so long as they've retained their humanity."
"Besides," Phoebe rolled her eyes, "we're hardly ones to judge. Or have you forgotten my ex-husband?"
Can anyone guess what she was making? :)